


Strawberry ice-cream smoothie

by onion_kid



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Disguise, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tattoos, sportacus has a type and it is tall skinny guys
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-25 06:32:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9807365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onion_kid/pseuds/onion_kid
Summary: Sportacus knows that his soulmate is in Lazytown somewhere. Or he was, at least, for that one fateful afternoon. All he has now is the nightingale tattoo on his wrist and the knowledge that the man likes strawberry ice-cream.Robbie Rotten knows exactly who his soulmate is, and he wishes he didn't.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am such a sucker for soulmate AUs. I'm not sorry for this.
> 
> The way this one works is that after you meet/touch your soulmate you get a tattoo that represents them on some part of your body. I wanted something that appeared once you met them, but wouldn't be obvious immediately. Also I like the idea that someone can have more than one soulmate, and they don't necessary have to be sexual. So there's that.

“Will you stay?” the children asked.

“I think I will!”

* * *

Sportacus looked around him and beamed at the park, newly cleaned of weeds and trash. Lazytown was already starting to look much better. It was amazing what you could do when you worked together! Everyone had really done their best. He could tell that he was really going to be happy here.

He looked at a soccer ball that was lying near a broken window and frowned. He couldn’t fix that right now, but he _could_ put the ball in a safe place. He’d ask who it belonged to tomorrow. It was a good ball, too. He kicked it up with one foot and bounced it into the air with his knees, wandering along the road towards where he’d left his airship. 

Something crashed loudly to his right, and he caught the ball, looking for signs of trouble. His eyes settled on a tall man with a tiny paper hat who seemed to have just fallen out of a small booth. He rushed over and helped him to his feet.

“Are you okay?” he said.

“I’m _fine_ ,” the man said gruffly and glanced back into the booth. His apron matched the sign on the front that was cheerfully proclaiming that ice-cream was within. He must have been busy while everyone else was cleaning up, or Sportacus was sure he would have met him earlier.

“I’m Sportacus,” he said, and smiled. It was always important to be friendly. “It’s great to meet you! Are you the ice-cream man?”

The man’s eyes lit up. “Why yes,” he said. “Would you like some?”

How kind! Everyone in Lazytown really was wonderful. And Sportacus had to admit that he wasn’t bad on the eyes, either, with his expressive eyebrows and cute moustache. He was glad to have an adult to spend time with while he was here, especially one as attractive as this one. “That’s very nice of you, but I can’t eat ice-cream,” Sportacus said apologetically. “I can’t have anything with sugar in it, or I start to feel very faint and pass out. Maybe we could have a nice smoothie together some time instead? I’m sure you would enjoy it.”

The ice-cream man’s jaw hung open. “No sugar?” he exclaimed. “How horrible!”

“I’m used to it. I can still eat a lot of sweet things that have natural sugars in them, like mangoes or pineapple. I really like strawberries, too. Do you like strawberries?”

The man didn’t seem to know what to say to that, and Sportacus worried that he might have accidentally used the wrong word. English was still hard for him, even after years of speaking it. He smiled widely to make sure the man knew he was being friendly.

“I-i-it’s a good flavour for ice-cream,” the man said eventually. 

“Then I’ll have to bring you some fresh strawberries for your ice-cream some time,” Sportacus said. “They’re always best just after they’ve been picked.” 

“That, uh, won’t be necessary,” the man said. “And I’m actually very busy right now. Ah. Making more ice-cream.”

“Of course,” Sportacus said, mentally planning out a new strawberry-patch anyway. “If you ever need me, just send me a letter, okay? I’m here to help.”

“Right,” the man said, and swung himself back into the booth, pulling the door closed behind him. Something crashed inside, and Sportacus smiled. It must be difficult to make ice-cream! 

“Ladder!” he called, and the ladder dropped down from his airship. He climbed it one-handed, the soccer ball still tucked safely under his left arm, and when the clock turned 8:08 he sprang into bed with a smile. He had a feeling that he was going to really like Lazytown.

* * *

“Hey, you brought my ball back!” Stephanie said. 

“I wasn’t sure who it belonged to,” Sportacus said, passing it back to her. “I’m happy I could help.”

“Thanks so much,” Stephanie said, and then, “Hey, what’s that?”

“What’s what?”

“That!” Stephanie repeated, and tucked her ball under one arm and pointed at him. He followed her gaze to his arm and flipped it over to reveal that a delicate purplish tattoo of a nightingale now adorned his left wrist. It faded into yellow at the sides, almost like a bruise. A soul-mark, he realised. He’d met someone who was part of him and hadn’t even noticed it.

“Oh,” he said. 

“Do you know who it is?” Ziggy asked.

“It must have been the ice-cream man,” Sportacus said. “I met him last night. He was… wonderful.” 

“Sportacus, we don’t _have_ an ice-cream man. That stall’s been shut for years.” Trixie said, confused. Sportacus glanced sharply at her.

“What do you mean? I talked to him. Maybe he’s new to town, like me.”

Pixel shook his head. “No, I walked past it this morning. It was still shut.”

“Besides, it’s _mine_ ,” Stingy said. “Nobody else is allowed to use it.”

Sportacus frowned, and flipped over to the stall. The kids were right -- the windows were closed tight, the sign still flipped to closed, and a layer of dust covered the smooth wooden counter. But he had definitely met a man the night before. It was all very strange. 

“I bet Robbie would know,” Trixie said. “Robbie always knows what’s happening in Lazytown.”

“Who is Robbie?” Sportacus said. The kids looked at each other. 

“Robbie Rotten,” Pixel said. “He likes to play tricks on us.”

“And he always knows whenever we do anything outside,” Trixie said. 

“And he gives us lots of candy,” Ziggy said.

Sportacus nodded. “Where does he live? I can ask him if he knows anything.”

The kids looked at each other again. “Well… we don’t really know,” Pixel said. “Sometimes he’s just around.”

Well, that was disappointing. Still, it wouldn’t do to show a sad face to the kids. “Then I'll meet him later,” Sportacus said. “Why don’t we play something while we wait to see if he turns up?”

“You don’t have to wait,” Stingy said. “He’s asleep on _my_ bench over there.”

Sportacus looked over, and sure enough, there was a long, thin man curled up on the bench, his head resting on a fluffy orange pillow. He grunted softly and tucked his thumb into his mouth as Sportacus watched. He’d look much better tucked up in a bed somewhere. Maybe in Sportacus’ bed.

He shook his head and reminded himself that he had a soulmate that he needed to find first. Maybe later, if his soulmate was okay with it, he could get to know Robbie. He has more than enough love to share, but he knows humans have all kinds of cultural taboos about it.

“Why’s he sleeping there?” he asked the kids. “It’s daytime. Does he know that it’s important to have a good night’s rest?”

“Probably,” Trixie said. “I don’t think he cares.”

Sportacus frowned. “Then we should try not to wake him. Let’s play something quiet. Do you want to learn how to do a handstand?”

“Yeah!” the kids said. 

“Okay,” he said. “What you have to do first is bend down and put your hands on the ground like this. A little bit further apart, Ziggy. Now just to get used to it, you need to push up with your legs. Don’t try to push up the whole way to start with. Just kick up your legs a little bit so that you get used to putting weight on your hands.”

He leaned down and kicked his legs up to show them. He knew he looked a little silly, but you sometimes had to look a little silly when you were learning things. The kids imitated him, even Stephanie, who he was pretty sure already knew how to do a handstand. It was nice to see her supporting her new friends. 

“Yeah, good job, everyone!” Sportacus said. 

“Must you be so _enthusiastic_?” Robbie said lowly. He uncoiled himself from the bench and stalked over to Sportacus. 

Sportacus smiled. “Would you like to join in, Robbie?”

Robbie sneered. “Of course not, Sportakook. I’d like to be sleeping, but since you all insist on being so loud, I suppose that isn’t going to happen.”

“I’m sorry for waking you, Robbie. But now that you’re awake, the children said that you might be able to help me with something.”

Robbie raised an eyebrow, then strutted in front of Sportacus pompously, sneering down at him. “Me, help you? And what would I get out of it?”

“It’s good to help other people,” Sportacus said. “And it’s very important to me. You see, last night I met my soul mate. The children said that you might know who he is.”

Robbie choked mid-strut. “You what?”

“He said he was the ice-cream man. Do you know who he is?”

Robbie looked like his eyes were going to pop out.

“Earth to Robbie,” Trixie said, and waved her hands in front of him.

Robbie shook his head suddenly and grabbed his pillow from the bench. “I have to go now,” he announced, and strode off abruptly, hips swaying as he went.

“What just _happened_?” Stephanie asked.

“ _I_ think he knows something,” Trixie said, her voice dripping with suspicion. 

“It certainly was strange,” Sportacus said. Robbie was a mystery, there was no doubt about it. “Maybe next time he’ll be able to help me. Come on, kids, why don’t we practise handstands some more?”

Down in his lair, Robbie Rotten peeled his sleeve back from his wrist and winced as the fresh ink of a new tattoo revealed itself. He scrunched his eyes shut and looked away, but when he looked back it was still there.

“Damn that Sportaflop,” he muttered. “Damn him and his stupid sunrise smile and his ridiculous muscles. Who even needs a soulmate? Not me! Bah!” 

He slumped back onto his chair and sulked. He didn’t need friends. He certainly didn’t need a stupid blue elf to be his friend. 

“I’m fine,” he insisted.

It felt hollow even as he said it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this isn't the best, but I've written it, so I might as well post it for people to read. I'm trying to switch over to writing in past tense and it's not at all what I'm used to.

“Sportacus,” Stephanie said, and stared him down as he sheepishly completed a push-up. It was really nice that the kids wanted him to have a day off, but for him being active was like breathing.

“Sorry, Stephanie,” he said and slunk back to sit on the edge of the chair. He felt bad for disappointing the kids, especially when they always tried the things he suggested. They were all great kids! He loved playing with them. It was just that sitting still made him feel like he had an awful itch in his brain, and exercise helped scratch it. “It feels strange not to be doing anything.”

Stephanie frowned. “You can still do things while you’re relaxing. I can bring you a book, if you’d like.”

“I’m not really good at reading long things,” Sportacus said. Not in English, anyway. “Do you have any short stories? With pictures?”

“I didn’t bring any to Lazytown, but Ziggy might have some. I can- wait.” She peered over his shoulder at something moving behind him. “Hey, Robbie! Come over here.”

“What,” Robbie said from somewhere to his left. 

“You’re the best at doing nothing, right?” Stephanie said.

Robbie snorted loudly. It was endearing in an incredibly obnoxious way, and Sportacus hid a smile. Robbie might proclaim himself the town villain, but Sportacus had had a crash course in Robbie Rotten over the past few weeks. His schemes were fun, and whilst Robbie claimed he wanted him out of town, he seemed to be incredibly ambivalent about it, and constantly challenged Sportacus to competitions that Robbie had no chance of winning. He was very clever and inventive. If Robbie really wanted to get rid of him, he’d already be gone, so Robbie must be enjoying their games, too.

“Don’t be stupid. Of course I’m the best. What’s this all about? Do you brats think you can beat me at my own game?” Robbie demanded.

“Sportacus is having trouble relaxing,” Stephanie explained. “Can you help him?”

“You want me to teach your flippity-floppity kangaroo to sit still?” Robbie said. He looked down at Sportacus speculatively, and Sportacus swivelled around to face him. He was looking particularly good today, and Sportacus thought that it was very nice to see him in his striped suit instead of a disguise. The disguises were very clever, but it always made him happy to see Robbie as himself.

“Yes, exactly! I knew you could help us. Thank you!” Stephanie chirped, and bounced away, leaving Robbie still staring at him.

“Hello Robbie,” Sportacus said, and smiled. “What do you want me to do?”

Robbie rolled his eyes. “No wonder they asked for my help. You’re _completely_ out of your depth.”

“Yes! Nobody ever sits still for so long where I come from. So what should I do?”

“For starters, lie _down_ ,” Robbie said, and stepped forwards and pushed him back into the deck chair. His foot landed in a hole, causing him to pitch forward wildly, landing on Sportacus. Sportacus grabbed his waist so he didn't fall further onto the ground, and their eyes met. 

“I meant to do that,” Robbie said loudly.

Robbie was warm and _so close_ , and Sportacus could _feel_ the spark between them. His instincts were screaming at him to hold Robbie tighter and kiss him, to take him dancing in the fields until the sun went down and they were both breathless from the beauty of the world and each other. He wanted to hold his hand and feed him flowers candied in honey, to name the stars in the sky that would never be as bright as the ones he saw in Robbie's eyes. He wanted to celebrate life the way all elves do.

But Robbie was a human, and he already looked like he wanted to dash away in embarrassment. Not only that, but it wasn’t fair to begin something when Sportacus’ new soulmate could be just around the corner. He couldn't hurt Robbie like that. Instead, he smiled and said, “How clever of you, Robbie. Of course I can’t exercise while you’re lying on me.”

“Yes, of course,” Robbie blustered, blushing, and leapt off him. “But, ah, it’s much too hot out here for that. Take your shoes off. I’m going to give you a foot rub.”

“I’ve never had a foot rub before,” Sportacus said.

Robbie’s mouth dropped open. “What? Never?”

“Never ever,” Sportacus said. 

“Then we’re going to do this properly,” Robbie announced. “I need water, at least. Wait here, and _don’t_ start exercising again. I’ll know.”

He marched off, muttering to himself about ignorant, unwashed superheroes. The water must be for some kind of foot bath, then. Was this something all humans did? He had thought that washing each other was meant for more intimate partners, but maybe he was mistaken. And it was only his feet. Maybe that was normal.

Robbie returned surprisingly quickly, struggling under the weight of a tub of water. A fluffy towel was draped over his shoulder. The amount of effort Robbie would put in to get someone else to be lazy was honestly inspiring to Sportacus. It was one thing to be active for yourself, but to be active for other people when you didn’t want to do anything at all? That was hard.

Robbie dropped the tub on the ground, and a wave of water splashed out onto Sportacus’ shoes. 

“I thought I told you to take those off,” Robbie said.

“I guess I forgot,” Sportacus said, and took them off and put them aside. Robbie made a face when he peeled his socks off and balled them back up in his shoes, but he’d put them on fresh this morning and barely exercised all day. It was a joke at his expense, he knew, but he didn’t mind. Watching Robbie be dramatic was very different from spending time with elves, who were usually straightforward and honest. Robbie was different and _fun_.

“It would work better if you actually put your feet in the tub,” Robbie said dryly, and Sportacus slid his feet in. The water was pleasantly warm, and he swished it around with his feet. 

“What’s in this water? It smells nice.”

“Epsom salts and essential oil,” Robbie said. “Orange, of course. Lavender’s meant to be relaxing, but it smells like old lady, and I don’t have any apple. I don’t know if you can even make apple oil.”

“This is fine,” Sportacus said. It actually was quite comfortable, concentrating on the feel of the water against his feet and Robbie’s deep voice. He lay back against the chair and hummed softly.

“Must you splash about like that?” Robbie asked. “Are you actually incapable of sitting still?”

“It feels nice when the water is moving.”

“Yes, well, hold still for a minute and I’ll roll your pants up so they don’t get even more wet,” Robbie said. “You’re like a child. No, scratch that, you're worse than the actual children, because they know how to stay still.”

Robbie’s warm hands touched his leg, and he realised that at some point he’d closed his eyes, too busy focusing on Robbie’s voice and the water to notice. He was warm and comfortable, and he wondered idly why elves never did anything like this.

“Robbie?” he asked. 

“Yes, I’m still here,” Robbie said. “Not all of us flip away the second we stop talking.”

“Is this one of your schemes?” he asked. “Because it’s very nice for a scheme. I feel all sleepy.”

“No, this is just what relaxing is like,” Robbie said. “It’s too bad I can’t just let you fall asleep, Sportasnooze, but your feet would go all prune-y. That’s too villainous, even for me.”

“Mmm,” Sportacus said. Robbie’s voice washing around him was like music. It was possible that he wasn’t listening to what Robbie was actually saying. 

Robbie lifted one of his feet out of the water. “Time for a scrub,” he said, and scooped something cool and smelling sharply of peppermint onto Sportacus' foot. It felt a little like sand when Robbie rubbed it into his foot, but in a good way that reminded him of playing on the beach as a child. No wonder humans liked relaxing, if this is what it was like.

Robbie put his foot back in the water and washed it off, then carefully scrubbed his other foot. Too soon, it was over, and Robbie slid the tub away and patted his feet dry on the towel. 

“I feel really good,” Sportacus said. The itch was back in his brain now that Robbie was done, but while he’d had something to focus on, relaxing hadn’t been so bad. Maybe he would ask Robbie to do it again some time.

“If I’d know this was all it took to get you to sit still, I’d have done it weeks ago,” Robbie said, and sat on the ground at the foot of the chair and lifted Sportacus’ clean, pink feet into his lap. He pulled a bottle out of his pocket and squirted something into his hands, then lifted Sportacus’ left foot.

“Oh, you’re not done ye- _oh_ ,” Sportacus said.

“Being lazy sure feels good, doesn’t it, Sportaflop?”

“It’s like doing a really good stretch,” Sportacus said. “Have you ever tried yoga, Robbie?”

Robbie sighed, and dug his fingers a little harder into Sportacus' foot. “You were doing so well with the laziness, why did you have to ruin it by talking about sports?”

Sportacus laughed. “I talk about sports because I like sports, Robbie!”

“Yes, I can tell,” Robbie said sourly. “Don’t you have any other interests?”

“Well, I like going for hikes-”

“That’s an _exercise_ , it _doesn’t_ count as a different thing.”

“-dancing-”

“Also an exercise.”

“- and eating sportscandy!” Sportacus finished.

“No wonder you’re completely insufferable,” Robbie said. “Aren’t _you_ the one that’s always telling those brats how important it is to have balance? I can see that it is _my_ duty to teach you how to be a normal human being, for the good of all Lazytown.”

Well, it wasn’t really much of a surprise that he was bad at that, Sportacus thought. Lazytown was the very first human town he’d been sent to watch over. It could only help to let Robbie show him how to blend in a little better. And if he got to spend more time with him while he was at it… well, Lazytown was a very small town, and he missed the energy of home. It was odd to wake up alone in an airship miles away from the nearest person. It was _lonely_. And he was an adult that could control his impulses, so Robbie didn't ever need to know about his crush.

“I’m sure you’re a very good teacher, Robbie,” Sportacus said. Robbie looked at him expectantly. “And… I look forward to it?”

Robbie frowned and cocked his head sideways. “I’m actively trying to run you out of town. You’re not supposed to want to spend time with me. If I thought you were capable of it, I’d say this was some kind of trick.”

Sportacus laughed. “Robbie, I don’t know how I could trick you when it was your idea.”

“Anyway,” Robbie said loudly, and shifted slightly so he could work on Sportacus’ other foot. “I’m a very busy man with lots of nothing to do, so it’s important that we do this according to my schedule. You and those awful children interrupt me enough as it is.”

“Sure, Robbie, as long as I can leave if my crystal goes off. Would you like to meet in my airship?”

Robbie blanched. “In that flying deathtrap? You must be joking. And I’m certainly not letting you near my lair. Here is fine.”

“Okay, Robbie.”

Robbie didn’t seem to have anything more to say. It was dangerous, because now all Sportacus had to concentrate on was the feeling of Robbie’s hands on him, and it felt very good. Did all heroes have such hands-on villains? Perhaps they did. Their teachers had impressed upon them the virtue of behaving responsibly, and that applied to everyone in the town, not just the children. Villains never stopped being people, after all. What made a villain different from anybody else?

A splash of pink appeared in the corner of his eye. Stephanie must be back. How long had he been with Robbie? It was hard to tell.

“Hello, Stephanie,” he said.

“Oh, Sportacus, you’re relaxing!” Stephanie said. “I knew you could help us, Robbie. We made these for you! Sorry about the empty one, Stingy was having a bad day today.”

She held out a plastic container with four cupcakes and one cupcake wrapper in it. Robbie accepted it and lifted the lid slowly, sniffing the inside cautiously.

“Acceptable,” he pronounced. “What, Sportaflop, did you think I was helping you out of the kindness of my heart? Ha! Naturally I knew there would be some kind of reward.” 

Maybe a villain was someone who wasn’t good at accepting kindness, Sportacus thought.

“Do you want to come play with us, Sportacus?” Stephanie said. “I… I thought about it, and Trixie said it wasn’t nice to get you to sit still when you don’t want to. I just thought that since _I_ like relaxing, it would be nice for you, too.”

“It’s okay, Stephanie. I understand,” he said, sitting up and pulling his feet up onto the chair so that he could see the people he was talking to. Robbie pocketed his small tube of moisturising lotion and wiped his hands on the towel. “It was something that I don’t normally do, and thanks to Robbie, I had a really nice time. It’s always good to try new things.”

“I’m sorry for not listening to you earlier, though. Do you want to come play too, Robbie? We’re playing soccer. You’d be a really good goalie.”

“In your dreams, Pinkie. These cupcakes and I have a date and I’m not going to miss it,” Robbie said, clutching at the container. Sportacus smiled and shook his head fondly.

"I'll see you later, Robbie," he said.

"Whatever, Sportaloser," Robbie said. He marched off, and Sportacus watched him appreciatively until Stephanie tugged on his shirt to get his attention.

"Let's play, Sportacus!" she said. 

"Soccer ball!" Sportacus said, and it dropped down from his airship. He caught it expertly and held it up with a smile. 

"Now we can play. Let's go!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Robbie: I'll try to shoot you out of a cannon but wrinkly feet are just too far


End file.
